Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc lauded journalists for having helped create public trust and rally forces to build a constructive and service-oriented government.

He made the remark at his meeting with leaders of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Information and Education, the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Vietnam Journalists’ Association (VJA) and press outlets.

The event saw the participation of Politburo member and head of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Information and Education Vo Van Thuong, deputy head of the Commission for Information and Education Thuan Huu, who is also VJA Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of the Nhan Dan (People) newspaper.

At the event, the PM expressed his most sincere thanks to the Vietnam revolutionary press for its immense, multi-dimensional contributions to the government’s achievements over the past year.

He said the media has left a significant imprint on the dissemination of the Party and State’s guidelines and the government’s directions.

“The press has contributed greatly to creating and consolidating people’s trust in the implementation of Party guidelines and State laws, especially when there is now intense competition with social networks in terms of information,” he said.

The PM expressed his wish that press agencies will continue to building the nation, firstly accomplishing socio-economic tasks for 2018 and successfully realising the Resolution adopted by the 12th National Party Congress.

Vietnam, Australia celebrate 45th anniversary

Visitors to the Temple of Literature now understand more about the vestiges of Vietnamese history thanks to a system of introductory panels in Vietnamese, French and English languages.

Each introductory panel is a concise brief on a section of the temple. Together, they tell the whole story about the invaluable historical site and will help tourists make the most of their visit to one of Hanoi’s top attractions.

The panels are a gift from Australia to mark the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The celebration started on January 17 with the launch of a 45th anniversary commemorative logo and presentation of nine introductory panels to the Temple of Literature vestige.

The winning logo was selected from a competition organised by the Australian Embassy and the Hanoi University of Industrial Fine Arts, in collaboration with the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in November last year. The competition received over 150 entries from designers across the country.

The logo features Australia’s iconic Sydney Opera House and the star of the Vietnamese flag. The logo’s designer Nguyen Viet Hung, 24, said that creation of the logo was inspired by his first memories of Australia and the participation of the Vietnamese sporting team at the Sydney Olympic Games 2000. Hung graduated from the University of Technology and Economics in Budapest in Computer Engineering and now he is a Hungarian language teacher and interpreter for a language centre in Hanoi. This is the first time he has participated in a major graphic design contest.

When he read the announcement on the Australian Embassy’s Facebook page, he immediately decided to join with aim to challenge himself, increase his knowledge and to learn from others.

“I was seven back then, and I keep remembering the fireworks display over the Sydney Opera House at the opening ceremony,” said Hung of his Olympic memories. “And it was great that at the Sydney Olympics, Vietnam won its first Olympics medal. The image of martial artist Tran Hieu Ngan wrapped in the Vietnamese flag and running in joy and happiness marked an amazing milestone in Vietnamese sports’ history right there in Australia. The image impressed me until now whenever I think of Australia.”

“From the above-mentioned memory, I decided to draw the Sydney Opera House with some slim strokes using the navy blue colour found on the Australian flag. I believe that the Sydney Opera House is the easiest feature for Vietnamese people to recognise from Australia.”

“The most important symbol for Vietnam is a star which I rendered with the red colour taken from the national flag. It represents Vietnam being a star in the region and how step by step Vietnam has overcome many obstacles; just like what Ngan did for Vietnamese sports in Australia.”

Australia will celebrate the 45th anniversary of bilateral ties throughout 2018 with a programme including cultural, trade and economic events. The highlights include the opening of the Cao Lanh Bridge and the Australian Government’s third Taste of Australia event.

“Vietnam is one of Australia’s most important partners in the Indo-Pacific. Over the past 45 years our two countries have built a strong partnership which now encompasses political exchange, economic development, security cooperation and innovation collaboration,” said Australian Ambassador Craig Chittick.

"Based on a strong foundation and building on concrete activities (particularly those in this anniversary year), Vietnam-Australia’s Enhanced Comprehensive Partnership will be further advanced in the coming time, both bilaterally and at the regional and international level, towards a Strategic Partnership; meeting the desire and the interests of our peoples and for peace, co-operation and prosperity in Asia-Pacific and the world," said Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Dang Dinh Quy.

HCM City Party Committee Secretary visits Vientiane

Ho Chi Minh City has been doing its best to deepen ties with Vientiane, making practical contributions to traditional friendship and special solidarity between Vietnam and Laos, said Secretary of the municipal Party’s Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan.

He made the statement during talks in Vientiane on January 22 with Politburo member and Governor of Vientiane Sinlavong Khoutphaythoune.

Khoutphaythoune, for his part, expressed his sincere gratitude and thanks to the Vietnamese Party, State and people as well as authorities and people of Ho Chi Minh City for providing invaluable support for Vientiane over the past years.

Both sides expressed their delight at the signing of the cooperation agreement for 2017-2020 to create a framework for bilateral ties in the future.

Ho Chi Minh City welcomed five Vientiane students to Saigon Tourism Vocational College and actively launched a project on improving cow breeding in Vientiane.

They affirmed that the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the establishment of friendly and cooperative ties between Ho Chi Minh City’s District 5 and Vientiane’s Sikhottabong district following the talks will contribute to Vietnam-Laos relationship in the future.

Host and guest agreed to continue promoting the cow breeding project in Vientiane, and provide support for Vientiane in the organisation of the Lao Tourism Year 2018 and several other events within the framework of the conference of mayors of tourist cities and the festival of tourism ambassadors of Mekong River downstream countries to be hosted by the Lao capital city.

Concluding the talks, they witnessed the signing of the MoU between District 5 and Sikhottabong district.

Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen received new Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Vu Quang Minh in Phnom Penh on January 22, during which he thanked Vietnam for valuable support for Cambodian people in toppling the genocidal regime Khmer Rouge and reviving their country.

Ambassador Minh presented his credentials to Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni in Phnom Penh on January 4.

The diplomat conveyed greetings from General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Nguyen Phu Trong, President Tran Dai Quang, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan to Prime Minister Hun Sen and his spouse.

He took the occasion to congratulate the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) on the success of its extraordinary congress which took place from January 19-21 and Prime Minister Hun Sen on his nomination for the PM post for the 6th tenure.

PM Hun Sen expressed his delights over the sound development in the bilateral friendship and multi-faceted cooperation in the past years, expressing his hope that Ambassador Minh and the Vietnamese Embassy will continue collaboration with relevant ministries and branches from both sides to bolter cooperation efficiency, particularly in economy and trade, bringing benefits to the two peoples.

He believed that Minh will have a successful tenure and wished Vietnamese people a warm Tet holiday.

Ambassador Minh will meet with Chairman of the Cambodian National Assembly Samdech Heng Samrin and President of the Senate Samdech Say Chhum.

Vietnam and Cambodia celebrated the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic ties in 2017.

Addressing a conference of the General Office of Statistics (GSO) in Hanoi on January 22, the PM said statistics provided by the sector help the Government steer and run the national economy.

Based on socio-economic statistics, the Government can grasp the situation of the country, each sector and each locality, measure the effectiveness of policies and mechanisms, and pinpoint important issues for each specific period, he said.

PM Phuc also appreciated the GSO’s quarterly reports along with analysis on subjective and objective causes for the growth rate at different points of time.

The Government leader urged the sector to improve it forecast work and promote the application of IT for faster and more accurate data processing.

GSO Director General Nguyen Bich Lam reported that the sector conducted one general economic census and 28 other surveys on smaller scale in 2017. The general economic census for the first time collected data on the subcontracting operations of enterprises and foreign non-governmental organisations operating in Vietnam.

The GSO built economic growth scenarios for each quarter in 2017 and made recommendations accordingly to the PM and Deputy PMs.

The Office also coordinated with ministries in the adjustment of prices of State-controlled commodities such as petrol, electricity, and health care and education services, contributing to fulfilling the goal of inflation control.

Lam said the GSO will continue to research and develop socio-economic growth scenarios to serve management work and improve the quality of its forecast and analysis of macro-economic situation.

An important task for the sector is to make preparation for switching to the base year of 2020 from the current 2010.